


The Magician's Story {Prologue}

by dreaming_of_fae



Series: apotelesma [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Body Horror, Fae & Fairies, Fae Magic, Horror, Implied Name Stealing, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Loss of Trust, Magic, Magic-Users, Multi, Panic Attacks, Possession, Trust Issues, Urban Fantasy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:15:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24922162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreaming_of_fae/pseuds/dreaming_of_fae
Summary: "Stevie woke with a gasp. Their breath was coming hard and fast, and they were shaking. After several long moments, their breathing calmed down, and they were left with one thought. What was that dream? It felt so real, and they remembered it so clearly.They were drowning. Swept beneath the dark and cold waters, hearing nothing but the rushing water. Then, a voice."The prologue of Apotelesma. The tale of how the Magician got to be where, and what, they are.
Relationships: Original Male Character(s)/Other(s), Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Series: apotelesma [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1803550
Kudos: 3





	The Magician's Story {Prologue}

_ “Come to us, Stevie. Come join us. Be one with us again. We miss you” _

Stevie woke with a gasp. Their breath was coming hard and fast, and they were shaking. After several long moments, their breathing calmed down, and they were left with one thought. What was that dream? It felt so real, and they remembered it so clearly. 

They were drowning. Swept beneath the dark and cold waters, hearing nothing but the rushing water. Then, a voice.

“Stevie? Are you okay?” One of their roommates, Louise, knocked on their door. “I heard a thud.”

Stevie looked around, and realized that they had fallen off their bed. They hadn’t noticed at first because all their blankets, and 3 of their pillows, had joined them. 

“Yeah, I’m fine! Weird dream is all.” Stevie untangled themself from the blankets and stood. They glanced in the mirror, quickly fixing their shirt, and opened the door. Louise smiled at them. 

“Weird how? I know a dream specialist, I could-”

“That’s, that’s not necessary.” Stevie stammered out. They knew how expensive mages could be, and knew they were struggling to pay their portion of the rent as it was. Paying for a specialist, when there probably wasn’t anything wrong with them? Not in the cards.

Louise’s eyes softened. She was an incredibly strong empath, and almost seemed to read minds at times. 

“Well, if you change your mind, I’ll send you her number. She’s really cute too, if that helps,” Louise winked, and before Stevie could speak, she turned and walked off.

Stevie went through the rest of their morning routine, barely thinking about the odd dream. Well, thinking a bit about it. A lot. Constantly thinking about it. What did it mean? They barely ever dreamed, and when they did, it was normal things. Falling. Being chased around by a monster. Teeth falling out. They had never dreamt of something like this before. Unfortunately, they did not have enough money to talk to a specialist, no matter how cute. They finished eating their toast, and checked the time.

“Fuck.”

Their boss was going to be pissed.

  
  


* * *

  
  


“An hour late? No call, no text, I thought you died, Stevie!” Mr. Lomar, better known to Stevie as “Dad” yelled.

“I know, I know, I just slept in! That’s all, I didn’t realize what time it was, I swear!”

Their Dad glared at them for a moment, before he paused, and stared for a moment longer. Before Stevie could ask if something was wrong, Mr. Lomar grabbed their shoulders and started bombarding them with questions.

"You've never been late before, Stevie. Are you feeling okay? Are you sick? Do you have a fever? You should go home and get some rest. No! Wait! Come with me, you're going to our house, I can't leave you unsupervised, something might happen-"

"Dad! I am not going to yours and Pappy's house, I'm fine, I promise, I just had a late night, that's all." Stevie said, holding up their hands placatingly. It was a lie, of course. Stevie had gone to bed early last night, and had fallen asleep quickly, like they always did. The only thing that was different was the dream. But they couldn't tell their dad about that. He would probably have a heart attack trying to figure out what it meant.

Their dad looked at them, his brow furrowed, before he sighed.

"If you're sure you're fine, I'll drop it." He said, patting their arm. "But you tell me if you don't feel well, I can't have my favorite employee off their game!"

Stevie smiled. "Don't let Tristan hear you say that, you would break his heart."

  
  


* * *

  
  


After a long day of dealing with bratty customers (no Brenda, you may not return that prom dress, this is a hardware store), Stevie had almost forgotten the dream. As they were closing up the shop, Tristan tapped their shoulder.

“Hey, are you okay? Dad was crying in his office earlier, and I saw Pappy this morning, so I figured you got sick or something.”

Stevie sighed. “I came in a half hour late, and he was certain I had died.”

“Oh, yup, that explains it. But seriously though, you’ve never been late to anything, ever. Are you sure you’re not dying?” Tristan raised his eyebrow, appearing perfectly composed. But Stevie knew that he was just as worried, if not more so than their dad. He just had a lot of experience hiding it.

“I’m fine. Really. I just slept in is all, nothing to be worried about.” Stevie smiled tightly. They didn’t enjoy worrying their family, and after all, it’s just a weird dream, right?

Tristan tilted his head, studying Stevie closely. “Okay. I believe you. If something is wrong you would tell me or dad right?”

“Of course.”

Tristan nodded once. “I’ll let you back to work. You’re taking a while to clean up, old man.”

  
“At least I’m not an infant, bitch.”

  
  


* * *

  
  
  


The moment Stevie got back to the apartment, they were pounced on by Felix.

“I heard you almost died! Did you take a picture? Can I see it?”

“What are you talking about Felix?”

Louise chuckled. “I told Felix you had a bad dream, and he ran with it.”   
  
Felix gasped, clutching his hand to his chest. “You mean, you lied to me? You said they almost drowned to death!”   
  
Stevie frowned, looking at Louise. “Drowned huh? That’s oddly specific.”   
  
Louise winced. Felix, ever oblivious, cut her off before she could respond. “Is it? I think you could get a lot more specific than ‘drowned’. Like maybe, drowned in a sewer surrounded by feral raccoons?”

Louise and Stevie stared at him. Felix shrugged. “Alright, seems like you two have something to sort out. Let me know when you’re done angsting!” He turned, and strutted back to his room.

“How did you know I dreamt about drowning?”

“I… lucky guess?” Louise tried, wincing as she said it. Stevie could feel their anger burning at their eyes. 

“Louise, don’t play dumb. It’s not a good look on you.” Stevie said, instinctively moving into a defensive stance. 

“Stevie, I swear, I didn’t-”

  
“Didn’t what? Read my mind? You told me you couldn’t do that, that you were just an empath!” Stevie’s voice cracked, and they could feel tears forming in the corners of their eyes.

  
“I am an empath! It’s just, your dream, I felt it. Your lungs were filling with water, I know because mine filled too! Please Stevie, I never lied to you!”

“No, no you did lie. You know what you did? You didn’t tell me something I needed to know! It’s still lying, I can’t believe you would-” The lightbulb above their heads shattered. Stevie held up their arms, and the glass bounced away from them and Louise. They stared at the ground around them, a perfect circle where the glass couldn’t touch.

"...Stevie?”

They collapsed.

* * *

  
  
  


The moment Stevie opened their eyes, their ears were assaulted.

“STEVIE! Oh! You’re awake! Oh thank the Divine, I thought you were dead!” It was their dad. He was crying ridiculously loudly into their ear.

“...Hi dad.” They croaked. 

“Hey kiddo, are you feeling okay?” Their pappy asked. He smiled softly and handed them a glass of water from his chair. Stevie saw their dad running from the room, yelling for a nurse.

“I’m fine.” Stevie smiled crookedly, “Reminds you of old times, doesn’t it?”

Their pappy chuckled quietly. “Sure does, although I seem to remember me being in the bed, and you stealing my chair.”

“Hey now, I was an eight year old, and you weren’t using it! I was well within my rights to sit in your chair.” Stevie said, grinning ear to ear.

“Hello Mx. Lomar, are you feeling any better?” The nurse entered the room, followed by their dad.

  
  
“Much better, thanks. What happened?” 

Their pappy frowned, and shared an indecipherable look with his husband.

“Stevie, kiddo, what do you remember?” He asked. 

“I was arguing with Louise, then the lightbulb broke… I guessed I passed out then.” Stevie didn’t know why they didn’t tell their dads the part about them using magic to protect them and Louise. Something deep inside them told them to keep it to themself.

While they had been talking, the nurse checked their vitals. 

“It seems like there’s nothing wrong. It could’ve been a stress reaction, so I would suggest you stay away from work for a week or so. There’s nothing physically wrong with you, so you are free to leave at any time Mx. Lomar.”

“Thanks, if you don’t mind, I’d like to talk to my dads for a while.” 

“Of course. When you want to leave, just go to the front desk, they’ll hand you some papers to sign.” The nurse left the room, nodding at Stevie’s dads as he went.

“Where’s Tristan?” Stevie asked, noticing for the first time that their baby brother was nowhere to be found.

“Oh, he was here for a while, but one of his partners had an emergency, so he left to help,” their pappy said. “But let’s not get off track, what did you want to talk about?”   
  


“I…” Stevie paused. They had wanted to tell them about their magic, but they couldn’t. The words wouldn’t leave their mouth. “Can I stay with you guys for the week? I don’t want to see Louise.”

  
  
“You said you argued, are you worried she’ll still be mad? Because I will fight her.” Their dad said, shaking his fists as though that would make up for his 5’2”, skinny as a twig frame.

“No, she wasn’t the one mad. I’m worried if I see her I’ll punch her. Or start crying. Or both.”

Their pappy patted them on the shoulder. “You can stay with us as long as you need Tee, we’re here for you.”

“But if she upsets you again, I will egg her car.” Their dad said with a big smile.

“You’re a child, dad.”

  
  
“Does that mean I can do it?”

  
  
“Dad.”

  
  
“That’s not a no!”   
  


“Dad!”

“Fine.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


Stevie put their bag down with a sigh. They had called Felix, who remained incredibly unaware, and asked him to get their stuff for them. He had done it, and 1 hour, and an extremely convoluted story later, they were finally at their dads’ house. 

Their old room was the same as when they left. Black curtains, black bed, and the bat dresser. They had gone through a bit of a goth phase through highschool, and their dads had made over their room as a graduation present. 

They unpacked their clothing, pausing for a moment at a thong that Felix must have thrown in, and collapsed on their bed. Stevie sighed. So much had happened over the last day, they didn’t know what to do. They sighed again.

“At least I don’t have to go into work this week.” They mused aloud. Their dads had made it very clear that they weren’t welcome in the shop for at least a week. Stevie honestly worried if they would be allowed to work for a month. The longer they don’t work, the longer they have to stay at their dads’ house. Their dad had probably planned it that way. Pappy was probably innocent, but who knows. He could be quite conniving when he wanted.

As they laid there thinking nothing in particular, they heard a voice from outside their window.

“Come to us, Stevie. Come where you belong.”

Stevie sat up. The voice sounded exactly like the one from their dream.

“Come join us, we miss you Stevie. Come home to us.”

Stevie got up and went to the window. They peered out, but couldn’t see anyone.

“Come to us, Stevie.”

  
  
The voice was louder now, and was echoing in their skull. Stevie felt nausea rising up in them.

“Who are you? What do you want from me?”

“Come join us, Stevie, come join us.”

“Come where? Where are you?” Stevie said, tears beginning to form. “Why are you doing this to me?”

“Come home to us, Stevie” 

Stevie’s skin crawled, and before they knew why, they ducked.

“Stevie? Are you alright, kiddo? There was a thud.”

“Yeah, I’m fine Pappy, just, dropped my bag is all.” 

“Okay, dinner’s ready, come down whenever you’re all settled in.”

Stevie sighed in relief. They stood carefully, and looked over their bed. Something had flown through the window and hit the wall. They crept over to the limp creature, and knelt to see it better. It was a dead dove. It had a note tied around its neck. They reached out and took the note, trying not to look too long at the poor thing. 

Stevie looked at the note. It was in some bizarre cipher, or ancient language, that they didn’t recognize. Then, awareness crept in. They looked at the note, and heard something. In the back of their head, there was a voice. 

_ “Come find us, protector, we are waiting.” _

It echoed through their skull. Over and over and over again.  _ Come find us, protector, we are waiting..  _ Overlapping itself, getting louder and louder. Stevie pressed their hands over their ears.  _ Come find us, protector, we are waiting..  _ It was pointless. The voices got louder, multiplied in numbers, chanting over and over again. Stevie felt like their skull was splitting. They let out an anguished cry.

The voices stopped. The silence was blissful. They curled up on their bed and cried silently into their pillow. After several long minutes, they drifted off into sleep.

* * *

  
  


_ A rodent moves under the floorboards of the house. It hears something coming toward it, it runs. Fast, faster, not fast enough, must keep moving. It climbs up the wall. The beast can’t follow it here. It scampers through a hole in the wall, ears and nose working to track the beast. Too late, it realizes the trap it has fallen into. The beast has an ally, one just like it. The new beast pounces. _

_ A cat licks its lips. It’s prey was delicious, but not enough. It hears a tweet from outside. A small bird sits. The cat leaps to the windowsill, silent and cautious. It watches its new prey carefully, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. It finds it, and pounces. Mid-leap, it is caught by its large friend. The cat yowls its protest, but it falls on deaf ears. It is trapped in its cage, unable to feast.  _

_ A bird flies from a tree. It darts up to a rooftop, surveying the land around it. It takes off, heading toward the riverside, with its abandoned kernels of food. Its wings start moving on their own accord, taking the bird to an unknown location. It swoops low, dodging humans and cars alike, before diving into the sewers. Underground, and unable to control its own body, the bird dives into the filthy waters and drowns.  _

_ A great creature brings its fellows in close. Soon, whispers the creature, soon we will have our protector again. Its fellows raise their bizarre, blackened appendages and screech their joy.  _

  
  


* * *

  
  


Stevie woke with a shout. They were panting and shaking, and in their struggle to rid themself of the dream, nearly punched their dad. 

“Stevie! Stevie, calm down, it’s only me. You had a bad dream, just, just breathe with me, okay?” Their dad was holding their arm to his chest. He was breathing deeply, overexaggerating the movement so Stevie could follow it easier in their panicked state.

After what seemed like hours, their breathing finally calmed down. Their mind however, was racing. The dream had felt so real, more so than the last one. And what were those creatures? They were unlike anything Stevie had ever seen. 

“Stevie? You feeling better?”

“It seems like that’s the only question I ever get asked anymore.” Stevie said with a wry grin. Their dad however, did not seem amused.

“Stevie, I know you might not be comfortable talking about your life before we adopted you- don’t interrupt me- and I don’t want you to. I think you should see a therapist.” 

Stevie sighed. “Look, I know you mean well, but that dream was just a dream. A nightmare. Nothing to do with my life before you two. I just, I can’t-”

Stevie stopped themself. They hadn’t told their dad how much they were struggling financially. The shop was barely keeping open as it was, they didn’t want to make their dad feel like he had to pay them more.

“Just, trust me, I don’t need a therapist.”

Their dad frowned at them for a moment, before sighing. 

  
“If you don’t want to go, there’s nothing I can do to make you. It’s just, we’re worried about you. First you don’t sleep, then you collapse, now you’re having nightmares bad enough to wake even your pappy? It’s, well-” He stopped talking. His eyes went wide, and his mouth opened just barely.

“Dad? Are you okay?” Stevie shook his arm, trying to break him out his trance.

His eyes turn a solid, steely grey. He blinked a few times slowly, like a doll.

“Come find us, protector, we are waiting.”

“Dad?” Stevie tried to break out his grip. “Dad please stop, you’re scaring me,”

He tilted his head, and his grip tightened.

“Come find us, protector, we are waiting.” His mouth opened, and dark grey smoke poured out. It fell to the floor, thick and almost slimy. It congealed around their feet, and began climbing up Stevie’s legs. They wrested themself from their dad’s grip, and fell to the floor, crawling backwards away from him.

“Come find us, protector, we are waiting. ”

They stood and raced to the door. They frantically tried to turn the knob, but when they tried to force it open, the door stuck. They looked down and saw the thick smoke had leached into the doorframe, making it impossible to open.

They turned then, and ducked as their dad made a grab for them. They launched themself over their bed, and to the window. They opened it, took one last look behind them, at their wonderful dad, now violent and crazed, and leapt.

  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Stevie hit the ground hard. They could feel their legs crack on impact. They cried out in pain. They rose slowly, unsteadily, and looked up at the window. The smoke oozed out, dripping down the side of the house. They ran.

Stevie kept running through the streets as long as they were able. As they were rounding a corner, their legs gave out under them. As they collapsed to the sidewalk, they glanced behind them, and saw the other pedestrians. They each had solid, steel grey eyes, and were opening their mouths. Stevie tried to stand again, but their legs screamed out in pain, and they fell, letting out a cry of agony. 

As they fell, they felt something inside of them crack. They let out a yell, turning to the people oozing smoke, and the street cracked beneath them. The pedestrians fell into the dark, screaming their smoke to the sky. Stevie’s arms, barely holding them up already, bent out from under them, and they fell back to the pavement. Once again they heard the voice, echoing through their head.

Stevie slammed their hands to the sidewalk, trying to make the voice stop, and it cracked beneath their hands. They fell into the sewers below.

* * *

  
  
  


Stevie grunted from the impact, their already bruising skin aching even more. The voice had stopped, the sewers eerily quiet, nothing making a sound. They looked up, eyes straining in the dark. They could see no sign of the smoke, and no sign of life. They rose, every part of their body protesting. 

“Hello, protector.”   
  
Stevie whipped around, and nearly fell, but something grabbed and righted them. They looked up, and saw a creature. One of the creatures from their dream. In the dark, it was difficult to tell its shape, but they could see it’s many limbs, insectlike, holding onto the ceiling and walls. It’s large head had eyes that stared straight at Stevie. Its mouth was filled with razor sharp teeth, bent in a mockery of a smile. The most bizarre part of the creature was that Stevie was unafraid. Something deep in them told them to trust it.

“Protector? What do you mean?”

It gnashed its teeth. “Follow me, and we will show you.”

Stevie followed the creature through the dark, barely able to keep their balance. The creature seemed to notice their struggles, and it lifted them, and continued moving, at a much faster pace.

It stopped at a grate, and put them down gently.

“Through there you will find the answer to your questions.”

Stevie walked through the grate, their legs numb to the pain. The room they entered into was large and clean. It looked almost churchlike, with large stained glass portraits. As Stevie walked down between the pews, they took in the pictures. They seemed to be of people, all throughout history, who lived in the city. All of them were pictured in front of the city hall, and all had one solid, steel grey eye. 

When they reached the other end of the room and saw the last picture, they stopped dead in their tracks. It was Stevie. Standing there, in front of the city hall, like the others. The picture had one solid grey eye, like the others. It was so different from them, as they were now, filled with confidence, and an easy grace and power, the kind Stevie had only imagined having. They were so entranced by this fiction of them, that they didn’t even hear the footsteps coming up from behind. 

“Hello, protector.”   
  
Stevie turned, jumping into a defensive stance. The person opposite them appeared human. Yet, there was something in their body language that screamed predator. Though, that might have been the grey eyes that Stevie had learned meant terrifying, possess-your-dad, turn-an-entire-street-evil smoke. 

“People keep calling me that, what does it mean?”

The person laughed. “It means what it says. You are the protector, soon to be the magician.”

  
  
“Magician? Someone who does petty card tricks and sleight of hand?” Stevie scoffed. The Other snorted.

“Those aren’t magicians, Stevie. They’re charlatans, making a mockery of the word.” The Other stepped forward. “You are something much greater than that. You are the City’s Magician, anything that happens here, happens because you let it.”

  
  
Stevie stared. “You’re joking. You think I wanted my dad to get possessed by some evil, weird smoke thing? You’re insane.”

  
  
The Other tsked at them. “You aren’t the magician yet. You have inherited these powers, but you have no control. The… incident with your dad was unfortunate, but necessary.”

  
  
“And those people on the streets, what happened to them? Did I… Oh Divine, did I kill them?”

“Of course you didn’t! There were no people, we saw how reluctant you were to join us, and thought you could use a little, uh, encouragement?” The Other faltered as the glass panes around them started to shake. “Stevie, if you would please calm down-”   


“Calm down! I thought I killed people, I broke my legs, my dad- I thought he-” Stevie fell into one of the pews, and covered their face with their hands. The Other approached them slowly.

“We… we went about this the wrong way, didn’t we?”

Stevie laughed. “Understatement of the century.”

  
  
“Stevie, we- we didn’t mean to cause you any harm. The city is out of balance. The amount of Mundanes flooding our streets certainly doesn’t help. The city needs- we need you. You are the weight needed to tip the scales. Right the wrongs. Please, Stevie, we need you.” The Other gently grabbed Stevie’s hand, and looked at them with wide, tear-filled eyes.

Stevie sighed. “Is it really as bad as you’re making it sound?”

  
  
“Worse.”

They sighed again. “Alright then, I’ll do it. I’ll become the Magician.”

The Other jumped up and clapped their hands.

“Thank you Stevie! I don’t know what we would’ve done without you!” The Other was jumping around in their excitement.

  
  
“From the way you were going on, die, probably. Is there something I need to do?”

“All you need to do is shake my hand.” The Other said with a grin. They stuck out their hand and raised their brows expectantly. Stevie looked at the hand, then at The Other’s face. Somewhere, deep in their soul, they knew they could trust them. This being, who threw Stevie’s life into chaos, was being truthful. 

Stevie shook The Other’s hand.

* * *

* * *

  
  
  


The Magician sat on their rooftop, waiting for The Other to arrive. They tracked them through the sewers, and sighed. They had gone to see the family of Stevie, but Pappy… Mr. Lomar had yelled at them for taking the face of a beloved, deceased child. They felt The Other’s arrival at the base of the building and sat up straighter. No need for them to depress them with their maudlin thoughts.

“You’re a half hour late, I thought you died.” The Magician said.

“My apologies, I slept in.”

“Well, let’s get to it. No need to waste anymore time. What did you need to see me about?”

“The mayor."   
  


The City’s Magician sighed. They had a lot of work to do tonight.


End file.
